Education Team Greets Visitors from Tokyo Gakugei University

Professor IWATA, Yasuyuki (Deputy President of Curriculum Center for Teachers, Tokyo Gakugei University) and Dr. Li Jun (Associate Professor, Education Policy Unit, Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong) arranged a study visit to CSRP with 10 Tokyo Gakugei University students on 27 Jan 2016. These students are prospective primary school teachers and are particularly interested in understanding teacher and student suicide and the corresponding prevention efforts in Hong Kong. Staff from the CSRP presented the suicide figures in Hong Kong, the current mental health programmes for students and 3 research reports about Hong Kong teachers’ workload and wellness. In return, Professor IWATA and the students shared about the general role of primary school teachers and the possible causes of student suicides in Japan. Both CSRP and the visitors from Japan have enhanced understanding of each other’s work. In addition, all agreed that suicide prevention is an important issue and everyone can contribute to make a difference.